Improvement in oofhno-pbesses



@uiten gisten jstut @ffice THOMAS?. HOW, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

Leim-s Patent No. .76,451 ma Api-u 7, 186s.

IMPROVEMENT IN COPYING-PRESSES.

Specification of' an Improved Copying-Pross, invented by THOMAS P. HOW, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, and State of New York. p

i Nature and Object of the Invention.

My invention has for its object the furnishing of a Copying-press, which shall be of such a form and s ize as t0 be conveniently carried in travelling, and by means of which an exact and legible copy may be obtained of letters or other writings o f which copies may be desirable; and consists in combining in a copying-press a rigid cylinder, of suitable size, with a piece of gumlelastic tubing, and with a sheet of rubber'cloth, or other equiv' alent material, as hereinafter more fully described.

I Description of the Drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view ot' the press nearly unrolled.

Figure 2 is a cross-section of the same partially un'rolled.

l General Description.

A is a rigidv cylinder, which I prefer to make of a piece of gas-pipe or iron tubing, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter and a foot in length. The dimensions of this pipe may vary from those above gi-ven, without materially impair-ing the elhciency of the press, but I prefer those given, as most convenient for ordinary purposes. Upon this pipe is drawmaud secured thereto by rubber cement, a piece .of elastic tubing, B, of the same length as the pipe, and ot`such a sizev as te closely it the pipe, and yet it should not be drawn on So tightly as to diminish the elasticity 'of the tubing, as that is essential to the success of the operation of copying. 'llo the outer surface of the 'elastic tubing there is attached, by rubber cement, or its equivalent, a sheet of rubber cloth, C, of a breadth equal tothe length of the tubing, and somewhat ,longer than the length of the sheets of manuscript in copying which the press is designed to be used. I suggest eighteen inches as a` suitable length for ordinary purposes.y Although eloth'with rubber upon only one side will answer the purpose,I I'prefer to use cloth with rubber upon both sides, as better adapted to the purpose, and that known as India-rubber-eleth packing I consider preferable te any other, and it should be quite thin. A tine article of oil-cloth will answer, but it is not so good.

Operation.

' For copying, manilla paper or ordinary eopying-paper-may be used, and it may be dampened in the ordi;

nary way, by using a brush or sponge, or it may be dampened in the press itself, by the following process: Lay a piece of dry cloth, (I prefer cotton cloth, but' other cloth maybe used,) of about the size of the rubber cloth C, upon .the rubber cloth C, when unrolled; then placer upon the dry cloth 'a sheet of copying-paper, and upon said sheet lay another piece of cloth, wet in water and squeezed out, but vnot too dry; then 'place another sheet of copying-paper upon the wet cloth, covering it with a piece oi' dry cloth, and so on, untilyou have the required number of sheets 'zi then roll `up the whole in the press, applying a strong pressure by pressing it down upon a table or other plane surfacefwhile rolling it up, and leave the press rolled upfor iive or ten minutes, in order that the copying-paper may acquire a uniform dampfness. When the copying-paper has become suiiciently damp, unroll the press and remove the cloths and interlying paper; then place a sheet of the dampened copying-paper upon the unrolled rubber cloth C, and place upon it a sheet of the manuscript, and cover them with a piece of oiled paper (not too thick g) then place thereon anothersheet of dampened copying-paper, another sheet of manu-A script, and another sheet of oiled paper, and so on. When the dampened copying-paper is to come in' Contact with the oiled paper, in the process of takingthe impression, the oiledpaper'should be previously moistened to prevent its abstracting the moisture from the dampened copying-paper, and a very convenient way of moistening it is to insert it between vthe dampening-eloths when the copying-paper is put in to be dampened. An indefinite number of sheets may be copied at once, but itis not usually advisable to undertake to copy more than four or five at the same operation. Y

After Athe required number of sheets have been arranged, as above described, the press should be rolled up tightly, by tirmly pressing it against the table with the hands while. rolling. This will slightly compress the rubber of the tubing' B and of the rubber cloth C, the elasticity of which, when the rolling is completed, will hold the manuscript and copying-paper closely in contact between the sheets of oiled paper, and, if good copyingl ink and Water that acts quickly have been employed, a copy will be obtained almost instantaneously, though it is usually advisable to allow 4the pressito remain rolled up a few minutesrbefore removing the copies.

The paper may also be moistened and the impression taken at a single operation, with light clampeningcloths, care beinfg taken that the moisture contained in them shall not be too great or unevenly distributed. A

very good Way, in this case, is to have as many as three or four of these cloths, -and after wetting thoroughly, to wringthem out together, so'as tovexpel as much of the Water as possible, when the impression` may he taken in the same manner as. before described, caro being taken to'give theimpression sufficient time to allow the moist` ure to strikethrough the paper and take up the proper portion of ink.

In the selection of ink, I prefer the copying-ink manufactured hy Antoine, Father Xt Sons, at Paris, France, i

though any good copying-ink will answer.

If desirable, both the manuscript and the copy-may be partially dried by placingvthem between sheets of blotting-paper, and rolling them in the press,as before, and this is advisable when particular neatness is required,

as it prevents the Vink from spreading after the copy 'is taken, and 4lefwesthe papel-iin better condition.

. CZa'm. I claim, as an article of manufacture, the improved copying-press, hereinbefore described, made by combining the rigid cylinder'A, the elast-ic tubing B, and the blanket or cloth C, substantially as hereinbeforc set forth.

Witnesses:

WALTER E. SMITH, LUCAS W. How`. 

